• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.21-42
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• 2012

Gloria Naylor's second novel Linden Hills (1985) explores the issues of self-exploration, empowerment, history, and memory by delineating the communal and familial tragedies and the distortion of values prevalent in a prosperous African-American urban community called Linden Hills. Drawing upon the Freud's concept of "primal scene" and "family romance," this paper aims to focus upon the Nedeed family, the founder of Linden Hills, and investigate the compelling traumatogenic force within the family, which is inseparably intertwined with the inversion of values and moral corruption permeating the entire community. The "primal crime" committed by the Nedeed ancestors serves to preserve and perpetuate a tyrannical rule by ruthless patriarchs who reign by underhanded strategies of purposefully neglecting and abusing others, including their own wives. The imprisonment, by Luther Nedeed, of his wife Willa in the family morgue epitomizes the long legacy running in the family-the oppression and burial of the pre-Oedipal, maternal history. Willa's accidental encounter, at the nadir of the family estate and her personal despair, with the faded records of the forgotten and abused Nedeed women exposes the violence-ridden ground of the family's primal scene and the absurdity of family romance the Nedeeds pursued. As the several lines of poem composed by Willie, Willa's male double, show, the hidden, forgotten history of the Nedeed women, in a sense, is the real, which cannot be assimilated to the social symbolic governed by the inhumane patriarchy of the Nedeed family and the success-oriented Linden Hills society. By portraying a catastrophic downfall of the Nedeed family and the futile outcome of its family romance, the ending of Linden Hills conveys implicitly that the contingent symbolic order and its oppressive control, however solid and invincible they may seem, can be toppled down by the real, its nameless forgotten Other.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.97-110
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• 2012

The sharp decline of fertility in industrialized countries since the 19th century constitutes a major problem for evolutionary approaches to human behavior. Why would people voluntarily reduce their total number of offspring, despite the fact that resources are so abundant in modern times? Here I review three evolutionary hypotheses for low fertility in modern societies, and discuss how the evolutionary perspective could shed new light on solving the problem of low fertility in Korea. Low fertility may be 1) a maladaptive outcome from the mismatch between our ancestral environments and evolutionarily novel environments, 2) a consequence of gene-culture coevolution where traits that reduce genetic fitness can still spread through a population as a result of imitation, especially if the traits are expressed by high-status people, or 3) an adaptation that maximize parents' long-term genetic fitness in knowledge-based industrialized societies where high parental investment is required for rearing competitive offspring. Based on these considerations, I suggest how the evolutionary explanations of low fertility can be applied to increasing the birth rate in Korea.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.27-43
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• 2023

The maritime industry is playing an increasingly vital part in global economic expansion. Specifically, the Baltic Dry Index is highly correlated with global commodity prices. Hence, the importance of BDI prediction research increases. But, since the global situation has become more volatile, it has become methodologically more difficult to predict the BDI accurately. This paper proposes an integrated machine-learning strategy for accurately forecasting BDI trends. This study combines the benefits of a convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory neural network (LSTM) for research on prediction. We collected daily BDI data for over 27 years for model fitting. The research findings indicate that CNN successfully extracts BDI data features. On this basis, LSTM predicts BDI accurately. Model R2 attains 94.7 percent. Our research offers a novel, machine-learning-integrated approach to the field of shipping economic indicators research. In addition, this study provides a foundation for risk management decision-making in the fields of shipping institutions and financial investment.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.219-229
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• 2023

Consumer demand for products with health benefits and natural ingredients is significant for the expansion of functional foods. Edible films and coatings are an excellent way to diversify the market for functional foods and as substitutes for the prevailing packaging and products. Incorporation of whey protein (WP) and its active ingredients into edible films and coatings is a promising technique that can be applied to various food products. Numerous combinations can be used on an industrial scale depending on the purpose, product, nature of the film, type of active ingredient, and type of inclusions. In this review, we describe several characteristics of edible WP films and coatings used as novel packaging materials. WP-based packaging can play a beneficial role in sustainability because of the option of recycling materials rather than incinerating, as in synthetic laminates, because of the use of natural byproducts from the food industry as raw materials. However, cost-effectiveness is a driving force against industrial setbacks in current and future WP processing developments. The industrial application of this new technology depends on further scientific research aimed at identifying the mechanism of film formation to improve the performance of both the process and product. Furthermore, research such as consumer studies and long-term toxicity assessments are required to obtain significant market shares.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.108-117
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• 2024

Background: This study aimed to explore the current activities of pharmacists in local pharmacies for preventing narcotics addiction, identify areas for improvement, and support initiatives to enhance and expand the activities of "narcotics addiction prevention counseling pharmacies" (hereinafter referred to as "Majung Pharmacies"). Methods: Surveys were conducted targeting local community pharmacists participating in the Majung Pharmacy activities in Daegu. Results: Out of 42 pharmacists who registered in the Majung Pharmacy movement in 2021, 41 responded (response rate of 98%). After excluding three participants who met the exclusion criteria, data from 38 participants were analyzed. The participating pharmacists were generally well aware of the conditions for pharmacists to serve as "accessible experts" in the forefront of drug addiction prevention. It was observed that the activities of Majung Pharmacies, particularly among highly engaged pharmacists, led to positive effects such as an increased focus on medication counseling for psychotropic drugs, thereby enhancing their professionalism. However, a significant number of participants also expressed negative opinions. Factors such as enthusiasm for professional activities and perceptions of the pharmacist's social role were important in shaping perceptions of Majung Pharmacy activities, whether positively or negatively. Additionally, this study underlined that pharmacists in practice are highly aware of the seriousness of issues arising from the use of narcotics by prescriptions. Conclusion: Suggestions were outlined for both short-term and long-term strategies aimed at ensuring the stable growth and expansion of Majung Pharmacy initiatives.

• Journal of Korean Dental Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.64-74
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• 2024

This case report presents the long-term radiographic outcomes of a novel approach for simultaneous lateral augmentation and implant surgery. A 60-year-old male patient who required tooth extraction of the maxillary central and lateral incisors due to trauma visited the clinic. After tooth extraction, severe horizontal and vertical deficiencies occurred owing to atrophy of the alveolar ridge, and a simultaneous guided bone regeneration (GBR) procedure was planned along with the installation of two implants. In the present case, a modification of the conventional 'sandwich technique' was used by placing the mixture of autogenous bone chips and xenografts at the outermost layer to maximize the osteogenic potential at the coronal part of augmentation while applying solely xenografts at the inner layer. To enhance volumetric stability, an autogenous block of periosteum harvested from the maxillary tuberosity was incorporated between the two layers. Cone-beam computed tomography was performed at baseline and 3 years after the surgery to compare radiographic outcomes. Dehiscence after fixture installation was successfully observed at the re-entry of the surgery site. Three years after the surgery, average horizontal bone gains of 6.11 mm and 4.12 mm were observed in the maxillary central and lateral incisor areas, respectively. Healthy peri-implant mucosa and well maintained marginal bone levels were observed 8 years after the surgery, meeting the criteria for implant success. The findings of this case suggest that a substantial amount of horizontal bone gain can be obtained with a layered approach using autogenous bone materials and xenografts, highlighting the advantages of incorporating autogenous blocks into the simultaneous GBR procedure.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.8.1-8.17
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• 2021

The global crisis caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to the most significant economic loss and human deaths after World War II. The pathogen causing this disease is a novel virus called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2). As of December 2020, there have been 80.2 million confirmed patients, and the mortality rate is known as 2.16% globally. A strategy to protect a host from SARS-CoV-2 is by suppressing intracellular viral replication or preventing viral entry. We focused on the spike glycoprotein that is responsible for the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the host cell. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration/EU Medicines Agency authorized a vaccine and antibody to treat COVID-19 patients by emergency use approval in the absence of long-term clinical trials. Both commercial and academic efforts to develop preventive and therapeutic agents continue all over the world. In this review, we present a perspective on current reports about the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 as a therapeutic target.

• ALGAE
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2024

The Ralfsiaceae family, part of the Ralfsiales order and consisting of crustose brown algae, includes five genera: Analipus, Endoplura, Fissipedicella, Heteroralfsia, and Ralfsia. In this study, a novel crustose genus named Ramipedicella gen. nov. is introduced within the Ralfsiaceae based on molecular and morphological analyses. Phylogenetic analyses using both concatenated dataset (rbcL + COI-5P genes) and rbcL indicate that the crustose brown algae that we collected from Korea and Russia form a unique grouping within the Ralfsiaceae. This grouping is strongly supported by both bootstrap analysis and Bayesian posterior probabilities. The genetic differences in the rbcL and COI-5P sequences between Ramipedicella and other genera within Ralfsiaceae range from 6.7 to 9.3% for rbcL and from 15.5 to 20.8% for COI-5P. Ramipedicella is characterized by crustose thalli having new crusts growing on top of old ones with a hypothallial basal layer and erect perithallial filaments, long cells with width-to-length ratio of 1 : 1-16, single chloroplast per cell, plurangia with one to several sterile cells, one to several unangia produced from unicellular stalks or from the lateral-basal region to the paraphyses, and unangia arising sequencially in irregularly branched specialized filaments. Ramipedicella, the recently identified genus, comprises two distinct species. Ramipedicella miniloba, the type species, is distinguished by crusts with small lobes, numerous hair tufts, plurangia terminated by 1-4 sterile cells, and large oblong unangia. Ramipedicella longicellularis is identified by generally smooth crusts, absence of phaeophycean hairs, plurangia terminated by 1-2 apical sterile cells, and smaller mostly oblanceolate unangia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.969-977
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• 2024

Indigo is a valuable, natural blue dye that has been used for centuries in the textile industry. The large-scale commercial production of indigo relies on its extraction from plants and chemical synthesis. Studies are being conducted to develop methods for environment-friendly and sustainable production of indigo using genetically engineered microbes. Here, to enhance the yield of bioindigo from an E. coli whole-cell system containing tryptophanase (TnaA) and flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO), we evaluated tryptophan transporters to improve the transport of aromatic compounds, such as indole and tryptophan, which are not easily soluble and passable through cell walls. Among the three transporters, Mtr, AroP, and TnaB, AroP enhanced indigo production the most. The combination of each transporter with AroP was also evaluated, and the combination of AroP and TnaB showed the best performance compared to the single transporters and two transporters. Bioindigo production was then optimized by examining the culture medium, temperature, isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside concentration, shaking speed (rpm), and pH. The novel strain containing aroP and tnaB plasmid with tnaA and FMO produced 8.77 mM (2.3 g/l) of bioindigo after 66 h of culture. The produced bioindigo was further recovered using a simple method and used as a watercolor dye, showing good mixing with other colors and color retention for a relatively long time. This study presents an effective strategy for enhancing indigo production using a combination of transporters.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.172-180
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• 2024

Background: Webtoon, a digital form of comics created in the Republic of Korea, has spread widely with advantages that anyone can become a cartoonist and that autonomy of creation is guaranteed. The purpose of this study is to identify the working conditions of webtoon writers and analyze the relationship between these conditions and depressive symptoms. Methods: A survey was carried out on webtoon writers and a survey data of 312 webtoon writers were analyzed. The questionnaire included basic socio-demographic characteristics, webtoon writers' contractual type, fields of activity (webtoon creator, story writer, illustrator), and working environment (labor discretion etc.). We investigated depressive symptoms and analyzed its relation to the work environment of webtoon writers. Results: Webtoon writers were exposed to long working hours, high labor intensity, limited labor discretion, negative comments from readers, and had a high prevalence of depressive symptoms. Compared to story writers who contracted directly with platforms, story writers and the illustrators who contracted with content providers (CPs) were 9.51 times (OR = 9.51, 95% CI = 1.47 - 61.33) and 6.47 times (OR = 6.47, 95% CI = 1.08 - 38.75) more likely to have depressive symptoms, respectively. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the urgent necessity to improve the overall working environment in the webtoon industry and implement measures to tackle the escalating mental health challenges faced by illustrators and story writers contracted with CPs, especially given the increasing popularity of novel comics.